Before the Pope, European leaders dared not speak of Kiev-Moscow talks, – Politico reported

Pope Francis raised a topic in Europe that others dare not discuss with his idea of the necessity for Ukraine to engage in peace talks.

This was reported by Politico.

“The proposal of the Pope has raised a toxic issue for Kyiv’s allies. But the time to talk will come,” the publication states.

“Some Central European countries have a very emotional reaction to the idea of a peace conference. They still fear that they will be next once we give in to Putin,” explained a EU official to Politico regarding the European reaction.

However, privately, some in European administrations acknowledge that negotiations may be necessary.

“We have to be realistic. At some point, we will have to start talking about peace and possibly even giving up part of Ukraine’s territory,” said an EU official.

Earlier, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said that Pope Francis “entered a garden where he was not invited” with his statements about the need for Ukraine to acknowledge itself as the losing side and engage in negotiations.